Manhattan may be where the action is, but there were more residential building permits issued in Brooklyn last year than at any time since modern record-keeping began in 1965, according to figures released yesterday.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that 9,191 permits were issued for new residential construction in Brooklyn in 2006, up from the previous record of 9,028 in 2005 and 401 more than Manhattan.

“It’s become hot to live in the borough,” declared Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “It’s unbelievable.”

Both Markowitz and Mark Kessler, president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, pointed out that the rezoning of neighborhoods such as Greenpoint and Williamsburg from industrial to residential had a huge impact on the borough’s construction boom.

“We were poised and ready,” said Kessler. “We saw instant results.”

Manhattan’s stratospheric real-estate market undoubtedly was also a factor. “The high prices in Manhattan are pushing people over the bridges,” observed Kessler.

And they’re not only headed to Brooklyn.

Housing construction thrived in every borough but Staten Island, where residents have been complaining about overdevelopment and the numbers of permits dipped sharply, from 1,872 to 1,036.

“That’s one of the extraordinary parts of the new equation,” said Richard Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress. “In years past, the residential boom – such as the late 1980s – was almost entirely in Manhattan and Staten Island. Now, we’re seeing significant apartment development in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens.”

Citywide, 30,927 permits were issued, down slightly from the 31,599 in 2005.

The record, 33,084, was achieved in 1972. The Bloomberg administration seized on the latest numbers as further proof that its five-borough economic strategy is on an express track.

Seventy-two percent of the permits handed out last year were for the boroughs outside Manhattan.

“The crisis of abandonment that plagued many New York neighborhoods in the 1970s and 1980s was solved by rebuilding neighborhoods, driving down crime and improving schools,” boasted Housing Commissioner Shaun Donovan.

He conceded that success has come with a new challenge: housing affordability. Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión noted that property values in his borough spurted 75 percent in five years.

“It’s a little scary,” he said. But he added: “The positives far outweigh the negatives.”

During the recession of 1991, The Bronx recorded just 22 residential housing permits. Last year, it registered more than 200 times as many.

“I think The Bronx comparatively outpaces the other boroughs because of where we started,” said Carrion. “There is construction everywhere.”